Dell announces Studio laptops – XPS meets Inspiron

Today Dell announced two new notebooks, the Studio 15 and Studio 17. As the name would seem to imply, these are stylish, personalized devices. The series takes cues from the higher-end XPS line and roll them out into a two models that start at $799. The Studio notebooks will arrive in both 15- and 17-inch systems and will be available in six vibrant color options, or standard Graphite Grey with blue, pink, or red trim.

Aside from colors the Studio models have a few other features that differentiate them from Dell’s consumer models. The most important change is a major design upgrade that actually has the system looking pretty sharp. The Studio line has a drop hinge, embedded graphics in the palm rest (like we’ve seen on HP systems in the past), a slot-loading optical drive, and an overall slick design. It’s no MacBook Pro, but it’s a nice step up from the Inspiron and had cleaner looks than the XPS series.

In addition to improved design, the Studio series has some notable upgrades available as well. These include a backlit keyboard, Blu-ray optical drive, LED backlighting, and displays that can be upgraded to 1920×1200. Throw in a Penryn processor and 2GB (or more) of RAM and you should have yourself a very capable notebook.

Of course the Studio series has it’s shortcomings as well. The first is that the 15-inch model starts at 6.11 lbs and the 17-incher is 7.87 lbs so these are not highly mobile, but that should come as no surprise. The bigger issue is that while starting prices are low a few minor upgrades will put you well over the $1000 mark. For example, a Studio 15 with in grey with blue trim ($25), a T8100 processor ($125), Vista Home Premium (standard), the 1440×900 LED backlit display ($125), and ATI discrete graphics ($75), and 2GB of RAM (standard) puts you at $1149 before tax/shipping. It’s shaping up to be a nice system, but it is approaching twice the starting price.

{ad}Overall, this looks like a step in the right direction for Dell and the first two reviews I read (Laptop Mag and Notebook Review) have been more positive than negative.